Jewish Film Festival In UK Features Brave Miss World, Which Recounts The 1998 Rape Of Beauty Queen Linor Abargil
Two Miss World beauties became the centre of global attention this week as one was buried, while the other rose from her dark past with a promise to help other women in the same situation she was in 16 years ago.
Tears flowed on Thursday as Miss Honduras 2014 Maria Jose Alvarado and sister Sofia Trinidad were buried a week after they were reported missing. The two women were buried in Santa Barbara where the country's bet for Miss World 2014 grew up and was killed by Sofia's suitor, Plutarco Ruiz.
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On Friday, Miss World 1998 Linor Abargil disclosed through a documentary showing at the ongoing Jewish Film Festival in the UK that six weeks before she won the coveted crown at age 18, she was raped by Uri Shlomo Nur, her travel agent.
Abargil, the Miss Israel 1998, was abducted and raped by Nur in Milan, Italy. She was aboard a car that Nur was driving on a secluded road. To avoid being caught, Nur covered Abargil's mouth with a masking tape and a plastic over her head while he sexually assaulted the beauty queen several times.
YouTube/JewishNewsOne
Nur even attempted to kill her by strangling Abargil, but she convinced him to set her free. While Abargil filed a complaint with the Italian police, he was not jailed due to lack of evidence, but Nur was tricked into returning to Israel where Abargil filed rape charges that resulted in Nur slapped a 16-year prison term.
Abargil recalls crying when she was crowned not out of joy for her victory but because "I think it was the first time that I realised what happened to me three months ago - and that I needed to go home immediately," The Telegraph quotes her.
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Now 34, Abargil is mother of three and a lawyer who is waging a battle against sexual violence by sharing her story through the docu Brave Miss World, now available at Netflix, which is also the name of her Web site that she uses as a venue to encourage rape victims to speak.
Sexual assault victims could also call the Rape Crisis hotline at 0808 802 9999.